Resource center launches 5 Promises action campaign

From staff reports

Published: Sunday, December 22, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, December 21, 2013 at 10:32 p.m.

The Children & Family Resource Center is launching a campaign Jan. 1 to educate and engage Henderson County residents on issues affecting children. CFRC's goal is to develop strategies to deliver five key promises to help ensure success for all children in the community.

The campaign will culminate with a monthlong Virtual Speak Out Conference that will go online Feb. 1, and a community dialogue at Blue Ridge Community College on March 1.

Based on three large bodies of research, CFRC wants to spread the word that the community can ensure children's success if it makes, and delivers, five simple promises: Be a caring adult; provide safe places; provide a healthy start; deliver an effective education; and provide opportunities to serve.

These five promises serve as the framework put forth by the America's Promise Alliance. Started in 1997, with Presidents Clinton, Bush, Carter and Ford, this alliance challenged America to make children and youth a national priority.

In 2007, the CFRC brought together more than 300 county residents for Speak Out for Kids, a daylong event that sought to make youth a local priority. A United Agenda for Children was created and successful efforts made on behalf of the UAC include an increased number of nurses in schools and more affordable housing for our citizens.

In 2014, CFRC is once again asking community members to come together. This time, it's different. CFRC, and a collaborative group of nonprofit leaders, are asking the community to engage online and in person; to become inspired to make change happen; and to commit to deliver the five promises.

Beginning today and continuing through the month of January, the Times-News will publish human interest stories to educate the community about the gaps that exist in delivering the five promises. The stories will highlight:

--Caring adults: Domestic abuse and the effect it has on children;

--Safe places: The difficulty in finding secure, safe housing for the entire family;

--Healthy start: Access to mental health care for children and the risk of not receiving prenatal care when a mother is addicted to prescription drugs;

--Effective education: What it takes to get kids ready for kindergarten and the impact it has for years to come when they are not ready; and

--Opportunities to serve: What the issues are from a youth perspective and the means to resolve them.

Promise

To encourage business and economic engagement, and reinforce the connection that a healthy, vibrant community is good for children and for business, the Speak Out campaign will offer a business plan competition with a $10,000 award.

From Jan. 1-31, applicants can submit a big idea business plan that will address four of the five promises and make an impact with kids in Henderson County. They can be existing businesses seeking expansion, or an emerging idea that needs a start, but they must be residents or based in Henderson County.

Applicants are encouraged to log onto 5PromisesHC.org for guidelines and to submit their business plans. Promise Competition applicants are also required to submit a video pitch that is three minutes or less. The videos should be on YouTube and easily sharable via social media outlets.

The final five applicants will be chosen by a review board (an Inc. Magazine 500/5000 business owner, a former SCORE business adviser, a local media representative, and a financial adviser) and asked to present their video pitches at a live event on March 1. Applicants will be encouraged to share their videos via social media outlets in an effort to gather public support.

The final five will be given a booth on the Speak Out Virtual Conference website, where they can also gather public support and feedback. The winning business plan idea will be chosen by live vote at the March 1 event.

Virtual conference

Beginning Feb. 1, citizens will be encouraged to log onto the Virtual Speak Out Conference to learn more about what gaps exist, how they're being addressed, and the people and agencies working on them.

Henderson County youth, nonprofits and agencies who deliver critical services to the children of Henderson County will make presentations via online sessions and video on demand, with capacity for live text chat functionality and email follow up.

Area agencies and nonprofits, members of the Henderson County Youth Council, and the five final Promise Competition proposals will have booths via the online conference as well. Much as one would enter an exhibit hall in a live conference atmosphere, citizens can enter the exhibit hall to learn more about what United Way is working on, or the Boys & Girls Club, or winning business ideas aimed at improving the lives of children. This interactive, online conference will be the first of its kind in Western North Carolina.

Speak Out event

The final piece of the dialogue around children will take place March 1 at Blue Ridge Community College.

Lasting no more than three hours, this event will charge the community to deliver the five promises and provide them with opportunities to do so, stories that inspire them, and a winning business idea to get started.

Utilizing a presentation format modeled after Ignite, where speakers are given short amounts of time to make their point, Speak Out will ask presenters to identify an issue they're working on and a promise they've embraced to deliver it.

Promoted under the slogan, "Enlighten us, but make it quick," Ignite is a presentation format where a presenter speaks while slides advance automatically to support them. An Ignite presentation is exactly 5 minutes, and contains exactly 20 slides. The slides advance automatically after each slide is displayed for 15 seconds.

In addition to the Ignite format focused on delivering promises, the five final Promise Competition applicants will present their video pitches and ask for audience support. Factoring in the review board rankings and using live text voting, the audience will help select the winning business idea.

The winner will be presented with a check that day and begin the process of growing or expanding a great business idea to help the lives of children.

Delivering on promises

Based on the participation with the online virtual event, the live event and ongoing community conversations, the community will have ongoing opportunities to deliver their promises. If someone becomes educated about cyber bullying or homeless youth via the online conference or live event, they'll now have a connection to groups working on those issues.

CFRC has made a commitment to report back to the community about the five promises and methods to deliver them. A downloadable conversation kit will be available for small group discussion around the promises. Participants can use them to capture solutions and ideas and send the back in to CFRC for dissemination to a larger audience.

Success stories and opportunities to plug in will be available on the 5PromisesHC.org website.

<p>The Children & Family Resource Center is launching a campaign Jan. 1 to educate and engage Henderson County residents on issues affecting children. CFRC's goal is to develop strategies to deliver five key promises to help ensure success for all children in the community.</p><p>The campaign will culminate with a monthlong Virtual Speak Out Conference that will go online Feb. 1, and a community dialogue at Blue Ridge Community College on March 1.</p><p>Based on three large bodies of research, CFRC wants to spread the word that the community can ensure children's success if it makes, and delivers, five simple promises: Be a caring adult; provide safe places; provide a healthy start; deliver an effective education; and provide opportunities to serve.</p><p>These five promises serve as the framework put forth by the America's Promise Alliance. Started in 1997, with Presidents Clinton, Bush, Carter and Ford, this alliance challenged America to make children and youth a national priority.</p><p>In 2007, the CFRC brought together more than 300 county residents for Speak Out for Kids, a daylong event that sought to make youth a local priority. A United Agenda for Children was created and successful efforts made on behalf of the UAC include an increased number of nurses in schools and more affordable housing for our citizens.</p><p>In 2014, CFRC is once again asking community members to come together. This time, it's different. CFRC, and a collaborative group of nonprofit leaders, are asking the community to engage online and in person; to become inspired to make change happen; and to commit to deliver the five promises.</p><p>Beginning today and continuing through the month of January, the Times-News will publish human interest stories to educate the community about the gaps that exist in delivering the five promises. The stories will highlight:</p><p>--Caring adults: Domestic abuse and the effect it has on children;</p><p>--Safe places: The difficulty in finding secure, safe housing for the entire family;</p><p>--Healthy start: Access to mental health care for children and the risk of not receiving prenatal care when a mother is addicted to prescription drugs;</p><p>--Effective education: What it takes to get kids ready for kindergarten and the impact it has for years to come when they are not ready; and</p><p>--Opportunities to serve: What the issues are from a youth perspective and the means to resolve them.</p><p><b>Promise </b></p><p>To encourage business and economic engagement, and reinforce the connection that a healthy, vibrant community is good for children and for business, the Speak Out campaign will offer a business plan competition with a $10,000 award.</p><p>From Jan. 1-31, applicants can submit a big idea business plan that will address four of the five promises and make an impact with kids in Henderson County. They can be existing businesses seeking expansion, or an emerging idea that needs a start, but they must be residents or based in Henderson County.</p><p>Applicants are encouraged to log onto 5PromisesHC.org for guidelines and to submit their business plans. Promise Competition applicants are also required to submit a video pitch that is three minutes or less. The videos should be on YouTube and easily sharable via social media outlets.</p><p>The final five applicants will be chosen by a review board (an Inc. Magazine 500/5000 business owner, a former SCORE business adviser, a local media representative, and a financial adviser) and asked to present their video pitches at a live event on March 1. Applicants will be encouraged to share their videos via social media outlets in an effort to gather public support.</p><p>The final five will be given a booth on the Speak Out Virtual Conference website, where they can also gather public support and feedback. The winning business plan idea will be chosen by live vote at the March 1 event.</p><p><b>Virtual conference</b></p><p>Beginning Feb. 1, citizens will be encouraged to log onto the Virtual Speak Out Conference to learn more about what gaps exist, how they're being addressed, and the people and agencies working on them.</p><p>Henderson County youth, nonprofits and agencies who deliver critical services to the children of Henderson County will make presentations via online sessions and video on demand, with capacity for live text chat functionality and email follow up.</p><p>Area agencies and nonprofits, members of the Henderson County Youth Council, and the five final Promise Competition proposals will have booths via the online conference as well. Much as one would enter an exhibit hall in a live conference atmosphere, citizens can enter the exhibit hall to learn more about what United Way is working on, or the Boys & Girls Club, or winning business ideas aimed at improving the lives of children. This interactive, online conference will be the first of its kind in Western North Carolina.</p><p><b>Speak Out event</b></p><p>The final piece of the dialogue around children will take place March 1 at Blue Ridge Community College.</p><p>Lasting no more than three hours, this event will charge the community to deliver the five promises and provide them with opportunities to do so, stories that inspire them, and a winning business idea to get started.</p><p>Utilizing a presentation format modeled after Ignite, where speakers are given short amounts of time to make their point, Speak Out will ask presenters to identify an issue they're working on and a promise they've embraced to deliver it.</p><p>Promoted under the slogan, "Enlighten us, but make it quick," Ignite is a presentation format where a presenter speaks while slides advance automatically to support them. An Ignite presentation is exactly 5 minutes, and contains exactly 20 slides. The slides advance automatically after each slide is displayed for 15 seconds.</p><p>In addition to the Ignite format focused on delivering promises, the five final Promise Competition applicants will present their video pitches and ask for audience support. Factoring in the review board rankings and using live text voting, the audience will help select the winning business idea.</p><p>The winner will be presented with a check that day and begin the process of growing or expanding a great business idea to help the lives of children.</p><p><b>Delivering on promises</b></p><p>Based on the participation with the online virtual event, the live event and ongoing community conversations, the community will have ongoing opportunities to deliver their promises. If someone becomes educated about cyber bullying or homeless youth via the online conference or live event, they'll now have a connection to groups working on those issues.</p><p>CFRC has made a commitment to report back to the community about the five promises and methods to deliver them. A downloadable conversation kit will be available for small group discussion around the promises. Participants can use them to capture solutions and ideas and send the back in to CFRC for dissemination to a larger audience.</p><p>Success stories and opportunities to plug in will be available on the 5PromisesHC.org website.</p>